


When The Dust Settles

by Stygma



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Angst, Bernard!Megamind, F/M, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Part 1 of series, Post canon, Slow-ish burn, canon personalities, low self esteem megamind, megamind and roxanne havent spoken since the museum dedication, roxanne wants to give their relationship another shot, series of dates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-20 07:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30001299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stygma/pseuds/Stygma
Summary: How do you fix something after you have broken it so completely?----Post canon, Megamind adjusts to a new life without evil, and him and Roxanne navigate the remains of a very confusing relationship.
Relationships: Megamind/Roxanne Ritchi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 15





	1. Frustration

It had been several weeks since the museum dedication and he had not seen or spoken to her once in all that time since - he knew how to find her, of course, but he couldn’t, not after his betrayal. They had never spoken about what happened between them and Megamind felt it was best left unsaid. Sure, she had given him a chaste peck on the cheek at the dedication, a obliging “thank-you” to her reigning hero (and evils gods how it had lit him on fire when she had), but it was not a kiss between lovers and he knew the difference. Despite what others may believe, he did in fact know how to read a room.

And so he had given her space, instead focusing on his new life with Minion and the sudden rehabilitation of his public image. Finding work was hard. Although there were no longer warrants out for his arrest, he still had several (putting it lightly) felonies, and employers’ reactions to his odd appearance had not completely dissipated, despite a general improvement in how he was regarded by the general public. He had fallen into freelance engineering work fulfilling military contracts (the government had little concern over who designed their new toys as long as they got them, though why on earth working for the military was considered less ee-vil by the public than his previous endeavours was beyond him), but designing fighter jets and battleships was far below his abilities and the mundanity of it all was a most treacherous kind of torture. 

He looked down at his blueprints and saw he had sketched spikes and an imposing laser gun onto an aquatic vessel he was meant to be tailoring for hydrodynamics and maximum speed. 

Ugh. He flipped his cape up over his massive head and hid in the comforting darkness it provided.

And of course, there it was. The second his eyes closed his terrible, wonderful brain projected that flash of blue eyes and sparkling, TV-ready smile onto the canvas of darkness in his mind. Despite the time that had passed he found that, much to his chagrin, not a single day went by that she did not trespass into his thoughts. Oh, temptress.

He thunked his head, cape and all, onto the work desk.

A polite knock came from the door as Minion peeked in.

“Sir? Is everything alright?”

Megamind thrust back in his chair with a huff, allowing the cape to fall down his back once more. Minion tread delicately into the room and peered over Sir’s shoulder at the decidedly not-hydrodynamic submarine plan.

“Ah,” he said, “you know, Sir, this may be an ideal time to experiment with acclimating yourself to what they call ‘Fresh Air’”. Minion enunciated each syllable impeccably.

“Fresh ay-re?” Megamind did not.

“Why yes, Sir. I’ve heard normal, non-evil people expose themselves to it when they need to clear their heads.”

Megamind scowled.

“Err, when they’re stuck on a problem and need to rejig their normal, non-evil thought processes.”

“Hmm, I see. Alright Minion, I will try this Fresh Ay-re.” He scooted his wheely chair back from the desk.

“Excellent. All you have to do is go outside, and walk around until you feel better.”

“And what is my destination?”

“No destination, Sir, the aim is to take in the abundant stimuli of new environments. You can go where you like.”

“I see.”

“Erm-- I have dinner on the stove right now, will you be alright to go by yourself, or should I take it off? I could look for a healthy takeout option to order us tonight instead.”

“I’m an internationally renowned master criminal, I think I can handle a small walk on my own,” he huffed, then softened, “But yes, thank you Minion. I’ll be alright.”

“Enjoy, Sir, I have my communicator if you need me.”

As Megamind headed out he eyed the small watch in the key bowl by the door. Minion often wore it when he wanted to pop out and grab groceries without a fuss, and that comfortable normalcy was exactly what Megamind needed right now. He slipped it on and turned the dial to “Bernard” with the casual ease of slipping into an old coat. Ah. Sweet normalcy.

Megamind straightened the brown blazer slightly and headed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once several years ago Megamind's therapist attempted to work on his self hatred and told him a person needs to love themselves, because at the end of the day you are the one that has to live in your own skin. Megamind then invented the disguise watch, and thought this was a very deviously clever work around.


	2. Chance Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megamind runs into a familiar face.

His feet had carried him with a mind of their own and he soon found himself hunkered down on the green grass of the park, surrounded on all sides by the sounds of happy families enjoying the afternoon. The sunlight didn’t have the same effect on his mood that it did on humans, but it wasn’t bad either. The warmth felt alien but pleasant on his face, and there was at least enough distraction here that it prevented his pesky thoughts from bubbling up. He leaned back and rested Bernard’s normal-sized head on his arms, eyes closed against the sun, and listened to the sounds of happy children screaming and bicycles jingling past.

He took a moment to enjoy his anonymity, content in the knowledge that no one around recognized him or cared at all in the slightest.

Then suddenly warmth and light of the sun disappeared, and when he opened his eyes - there was that most terribly perfect face filling the whole of his vision. Albeit upsidedown.

“Hey, you.”

Roxanne Ritchi, the number one most intrepid reporter of Metro City, was leaned over him where he lay, wearing a bike helmet and blocking the sun.

“-A-GAH-GAH-GAH--OOF!”

He lurched out from under her, trying to stand up too quickly but tripping over his own feet and face first into the grass. He righted himself and rubbed his head pitifully from the fall - hmm, yep. She didn’t need to see the green eyes to know who this was.

“R-Roxanne.”

“Oh, he remembers my name,” she slung, but in the next moment any trace of malice in her voice was gone as she leaned on her bike’s handles. “What are you doing out here, uh, “Bernard”?” She drew air quotes in a small circle with her fingers.

“Me? Oh, yes, um,” he squared his shoulders, “I’m… enjoying the Sun-Shiné.” Nonono, he’s not prepared for this, he’s not ready to talk to her, she thinks he’s a terrible monster and how creepy it must be that she found him at the site of one of their dates, the one where she told him about her mother and he learned how to ride a bike and--

He clocked the bike helmet she was wearing for the first time. Oh no, was she here riding with someone new? Evil gods, he wouldn’t be able to handle it if--

Roxanne followed his eyes as he looked around behind her, her face settling into a bemused smirk. “Relax, it’s just me. You aren’t the only one out appreciating the good weather.”

He relaxed and looked back at her, mouth forming a tiny smile. “Ha-ha, yes, of course.”

She shifted her hold on her bike.

The silence was only a moment long, but its weight crashed against Megamind like waves on a rocky shore.

“Listen... “ she started, “I feel like we… I just don’t like how… um.”

Megamind looked as though he was bracing for her to strike him as she fumbled for the right words.

“Do you want to grab a coffee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anonymity is something of a luxury for the both of them, albeit in different ways.


	3. Something Brewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxanne wants to talk for the first time since everything happened, and Megamind isn't prepared.

The walk to get coffee was unbearable, a thick, leaden silence hanging in the air that threatened to suffocate them both. Roxanne unclipped her helmet and pushed her bike on foot while Megamind followed alongside, sun glinting off his glasses and concealing his eyes.

After a block Roxanne looked like she had suddenly been afflicted by a terrible itch as she glanced over at him.

“Could you please take that off? I’m sure you can understand how uncomfortable it is for me.”

Huh? Oh. OH. Oh no, how uncouth he was to wear the stolen facade of the man he’d used to worm into her life! He jumped as if electrocuted and hastily fidgeted with the wrist watch, ducking into a nearby alley to make the change out of public view.

“Oh, oh evil gods, I’m so sorry, of course. Just, we might receive a little more attention once I do, I hope that’s alright.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Roxanne Ritchi was a prominent reporter of some minor celebrity, public attention hadn’t phased her in years.

Megamind twisted the watch and let the Bernard facade fall away, stepping back out of the alley to rejoin her as his true self, leather, spikes and all. 

Roxanne relaxed a bit (Megamind did not), and they both ignored a small child who pointed at the conspicuous blue hero and yelled loudly to his mother.

They crossed the street, making a point to ignore it once again when a car honked at them in recognition before speeding through the intersection. There was a coffee shop just up ahead and Roxanne stopped to lock her bike outside while Megamind took her order - just a black coffee, whichever roast, it didn’t matter, thanks. Even though Megamind would usually order something a bit more extravagant, he ended up getting the same thing - he didn’t want to wait for his to be made and have to go up to the counter again after they had sat down.

Holding the two black coffees he turned to assess the small cafe for a place to sit, found that it was full, and so with a villainously pointed look caused a relaxing couple to gather up their things and scurry off in a hurry. Well, at least that still worked. He set the coffees down on the newly freed table and began dumping packet after packet of sugar into his as Roxanne came in and took a seat across from him.

She looked at Megamind stirring sugar into his own coffee with a small wooden stick, then back to her own with a quirked eyebrow.

“Safe and as you ordered, I assure you,” he gestured.

Roxanne set her bike helmet on the corner of her chair and wrapped her hands around the coffee, letting her shoulders drop as she allowed herself to get a bit more comfortable.

Then that terrifying, heavy silence returned.

Megamind had no idea how to approach this situation. He wasn’t sure why she would even allow him to be in the same room as her, let alone what he should say. He would have to wait for her to break the silence first, but she was currently staring deep into her coffee and avoiding his gaze. His foot jiggled under the table.

Just as he was about to ask if he should leave, she spoke.

"You really hurt me you know."

He flinches reflexively, then softens.

"...I know." He doesn't say the words he should say, even though he means them. To say "sorry" would imply an ask for forgiveness, and he's not entitled to that. Instead he will sit here and accept the consequences of his actions, stewing in the self pity and hatred that is the debt to be paid for his evil deeds.

Roxanne unglued her eyes from her coffee.

“Why haven’t you called?”

He nearly chokes.

Call her? He couldn’t. Once you’ve deceived someone the way Megamind had deceived Roxanne, you lose the privilege of calling them. That’s just common sense. He was evil, not an animal. He had been trying to do the right thing given the situation, so why was she looking at him like that?

“Would you have picked up if I had?” It was all he could think to say.

She searches his face for a moment and then takes a sip of her coffee, the meaning of which is inscrutable to him. There’s another long silence, though this one is slightly less dreadful.

“I’ve been worried. You disappeared after the day we dedicated the museum. I even visited the lair but the secret entrance was paved over, and since you gave Bernard his phone back--”

Megamind tugged his collar nervously and she blinked.

“You gave Bernard back his phone, didn’t you?”

Megamind steepled his fingers and tapped them together.

“A-ha-ha, yes, about that.”

She looked at him to continue.

“It had too much incriminating evidence left over from our… amorous exchanges. So Minion and I launched it into the sun.”

That drew a small laugh from her, to the surprise of both of them. She brushed her bangs aside in the way that made him weak and looked up at him, uncharacteristically bashful.

“Listen, Megamind. I’ve really needed to talk to you about what happened, face to face.”

He nodded solemnly.

“What you did-- it was bad. I would never, ever allow a human man to treat me the way you did.”

Immediately Megamind felt as if he had been punched in the gut, but kept his face as stoic as he could. Whatever she had to say, she deserved the chance to say it… and likewise, he deserved to sit and listen.

“But... a lot has happened since the night we broke up. I think I understand you better now. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not excusing what you did, it’s just that my feelings about it are more complex than they were before, I suppose.”

She wrapped her hands around her coffee and chuckled softly.

“In a way it helps that I ran into you while you were disguised today. It sort of confirms what I suspected about your motivations, you know?”

Megamind’s brow furrowed. What was happening?

Where were the pointed words and disgusted looks? She couldn’t possibly be implying she had sympathy for the difficulties he faced, existing as a perpetual outsider on a strange and distant planet.

Roxanne looked as though she were gathering her courage to say something else, something weightier, so perhaps this would be the final, deadly blow to his heart that he had been expecting--

“I think,” she continued, carefully, as he braced, “if you are interested, and if you swear to only be honest with me from here on out--”

She lifted hopeful eyes to meet his, roses blossoming across her cheeks.

“I would like to try again. From the beginning.”

It took a moment for the gears to resume their turning in his head. His coffee sat untouched on the table. This was… She was…

She was giving him a second chance.

She was giving him a second chance?

No one on earth had ever given Megamind a second chance in his entire miserable life, and here sat before him was Roxanne Ritchi, the most beautiful, captivating, intelligent woman on the planet offering him a fresh start, one glorious chance to atone for the biggest, most revulsive regret of his short, sad criminal life. He understood this was a precious, fragile gift she was bestowing from the goodness of her heart, and so when his words finally, slowly returned they came out so soft and so delicate, like hands picking up a small injured bird.

“Yes, Roxanne. If it’s okay with you… I would like that.”

He paused, then crossed a gloved finger over his heart twice and raised a hand - honest.

She smiled a warm, dazzling smile and finished the last sip of her coffee as she gathered up her things.

“I’m glad I ran into you today. I have to go, but... you always know how to find me, Mr. Genius.”

She stood up, looped her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her helmet from the corner of her chair. 

Just before she left, she lay her hand over his and leaned down close to his face,

“I missed you,”

And pecked him on the cheek. 

He stared after her as she glided away, completely frozen as he watched her clip on her helmet outside and ride away past the window. She even looked back and gave him a small wave. After she was gone his hand raised to the empty space where her lips had been, and he flushed purple from the tips of his ears all the way down his neck.

His poor, astonished heart screamed and counted its blessings.

This time, a kiss on the cheek did not feel like a goodbye. This time, a kiss on the cheek felt like a cracked open door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minion hears the front door open and close and the clank of keys being dropped back into the bowl, but when he calls out to welcome Sir home, there's no response.
> 
> He patters out of the kitchen, wiping large hands on his apron, and finds Sir with his back to him. Minion feels the worry start to ball up in his stomach as Sir's shoulders begin to shake, until suddenly Sir swivels around and lets out the most joyous, uproarious bark of laughter, bounding up to Minion and placing his hands on either side of the glass bowl and giving it a little shake before grabbing him in a big hug.
> 
> "OHHHH-HO-HO-HO, MINION YOU INCREDIBLE FISH, YOU!"
> 
> "Ah-haha, I take it you had a nice walk then, Sir?"


	4. Late Night Brainstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxanne Ritchi has made the terrible decision to reignite her relationship with Megamind, and he needs to think up the perfect date idea *immediately* before she has the chance to change her mind. Minion gets roped in.

Minion yawned widely in his bowl and gave his head a little shake. It was the middle of the night and Sir was keeping the both of them up to brainstorm date ideas for Miss Ritchi... Minion was happy that she and Sir were reconciling, of course, but he wasn't too sure why this couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Minion mimed coughing into his fist politely as Megamind thunked his head on the work desk over and over in exasperation.

“Sir, are you sure this is the top priority right now? You haven’t even finished the revisions on your submarine contract yet.”

Sir also hadn’t finished his dinner, and a plate of now-cold vegetarian lasagna sat on the corner of his desk with only a small bite taken out of it. Minion frowned.

“Of course it’s of top priority, you sluggish seasnail! There will be dozens more subaquatic vehicle contracts,” he swept the half-finished blueprints off his desk dramatically and pointed a finger upwards at nothing in particular, “but there will only be one opportunity to right my most vile of wrongdoings.”

Minion sighed and a little bubble burbled up in his tank. He knew when Sir got like this there was no stopping him, so he might as well help and get it over with sooner so they could get to bed.

“Hmm… Well, may I suggest the beach, Sir? The weather is supposed to be lovely again tomorrow.” 

“YES!” Megamind puffed up confidently, then suddenly recoiled at the thought,

“NO! That means she’ll have to see me in a swimsuit,” Megamind’s eyes widened in terror, “And worse! She’ll think I’m trying to see _her_ in a swimsuit! No, no, out of the question.”

“I don’t think you’re required to wear a swimsuit at the beach, Sir.”

Megamind swiveled on his heels, scandalized.

“Minion! How crass!”

Megamind’s brow did a wave across his face in thought, “Besides, I don’t think Metrocity even has nude beaches.”

“Well, Sir,” Minion picked up Megamind’s untouched lasagna to move it to the fridge, “I think given your… _tense…_ history with Miss Ritchi, you should consider a low pressure environment. Somewhere she feels comfortable. A restaurant, perhaps.”

__

__

“Somewhere she feels comfortable… Hm... Minion, that’s it!” 

Megamind bounced up so fast he startled Minion who nearly launched the lasagna straight off the plate in surprise, only barely reacting in time to rebalance it. Megamind brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled, summoning a swarm of brainbots and he slapped his hands on his knees playfully as they neared.

“Who wants to do a little mission, huh? You wanna go on a mission?”

“BOWG BOWG” “BOWG” “BOWG” “BOWG BOWG”

“Now, now,” Megamind wagged a scolding finger, “I only need one.”

The brainbots clambered over each other for his attention, BOWG-ing excitedly.

“Aaaaaand…. You there!” He circled a finger around and pointed at a little bot who whizzed forward. He gave the bot scritches on either side of its crude metallic jaw.

“You wanna do a job for daddy? Huh? Huh?”

The lucky bot whirred happily while the rest of the swarm wilted.

Megamind scrambled for some of Minion’s personalized stationery from under a pile of papers on the work desk, then jotted down a quick note, hunched over to protect from prying eyes. He slipped it into a small envelope and finally handed it to the brainbot. “Hold onto this and deliver it to Miss Ritchi tomorrow at noon. Protect it with your life!”

The bot grasped the note gingerly between its claws and whizzed off, just as Minion was returning from the kitchen. Megamind steepled his fingers and laughed a deep, throaty laugh.

“I take it you’ve decided on a date plan then, Sir?”

“Oh yes Minion, I most certainly have.”

“Wonderful!” Minion spouted, suddenly looking much more awake. “In that case, I'd say it’s time to decide what you’ll wear!”

“What? Oh no, Minion, not--”

Minion stuck two little flippers in his toothy mouth and gave a whistle of his own, causing the dejected bot swarm to brighten instantly. In a blur they swept the legs out from underneath their master and whisked him off toward the fitting room in a chorus of BOWGs.

“MIN-YON!”

Minion flicked the lights off in the workshop and contentedly closed the door behind him as his little fishy mind filled with fabric swatches and semi-formalwear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minion and Megamind aren't vegetarian, they just really love vegetarian lasagna.


End file.
